Forage Inventory Calculator Tool for Beef Producers
Amy Barkley, Livestock Specialist
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program
As we move into fall, it's important to ensure that there are enough stored forages on the farm to get beef cattle through the winter. One of the more common stored forages is hay. Using an Excel inventory spreadsheet developed by Bill Halfman with the University of Wisconsin Extension, you can enter data from the farm to find the number of bales it will take to make it until the pastures green up again in the spring. The results you get here will also serve as an early indication as to whether or not additional hay needs to be purchased.
Here is the link that will take you to the spreadsheet: https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu...
To use this tool, you will need the following information:
- Weights of 6 bales
- The total number of bales that you have to feed for the winter
- The storage loss (There is a reference table in the spreadsheet to assist with this estimation)
- The number of bulls, mature cows, yearling cattle, and calves you expect to feed over the winter
- The number of days you anticipate needing to feed animals throughout the winter
- The amount of hay that is fed to each animal unit (1 animal unit = 1,000 pounds of animal) per day
For assistance with using this hay inventory calculator or for more information on determining forage inventories, contact Livestock and Beginning Farm Specialist, Amy Barkley, at amb544@cornell.edu or (716) 640 - 0844
Field Crops
Dairy
Business
Livestock
Grains
Upcoming Events
Is Grazing Sheep Beneath Solar Arrays and Opportunity for Your Future?
September 25, 2023
Mt. Morris, NY
Grazing sheep beneath utility-scale solar arrays can build wealth of present and future sheep farmers as vegetation management service providers and access to additional pasture. The Cornell Cooperative Enterprise Program (CEP) conducted a survey earlier this year completed by over 600 farmers. Farmers identified barriers to grazing sheep under solar arrays and weighed in on need for a producer-led organization to negotiate contracts on their behalf, coordinate logistics of multiple flocks, provide transport of sheep to and from the site, care for sheep while on-site, and provide supplemental mowing. Additional questions focused on processing and marketing needs.
Technology for Grazing Dairies Webinar
September 27, 2023
Join us for this free webinar! Brought to you by the dairy specialists of CCE NWNY and SWNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Programs.
Protecting Against Murphy's Law: A FREE Live Seminar for Veterans.
October 4, 2023
What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong!
Good ole' Murphy's Law is probably the best description of what it's like to be a farmer that there is! Join Cornell Cooperative Extension Farm Business Management Specialist, Katelyn Walley-Stoll, to learn more about the 5 areas of risk on farms and how to develop strategies to manage those risks. Participants will have the opportunity to identify areas of risk on their own farms and brainstorm ways to (try to) prevent the inevitable!
Registration is REQUIRED by visiting https://tinyurl.com/CCERisk or call Kelly at 585-268-7644.
Announcements
No announcements at this time.